One More Light
by Vlaatjee
Summary: -ONE SHOT- Which is the true nightmare, the horrific dream that you have in your sleep or the cruel and gruesome reality that is there when you're awake?


**One More Light**

_Which is the true nightmare, the horrific dream that you have in your sleep or the cruel and gruesome reality that is there when you're awake?_

This story is dedicated to Chester Charles Bennington.  
1976 - 2017  
My hero, always and forever.

**Disclaimers  
**1\. I don't own the Biker Mice From Mars.  
2\. I've used some lyrics from Linkin Park and Disney, they own these beautiful words, not me.  
3\. English isn't my first language, so if there are any grammatical or spelling mistakes, my apologies in advance.  
4\. This is a one-shot, I don't have the intention to write any more chapters.  
5\. But okay, never say never.

* * *

"There."  
After rubbing away the last blind spots in the original metallic black paint of the impressive Harley Davidson Super Glide, Charley did a few steps back to admire her work. The bike looked as good as new, ready to hit the road again.  
Wiping off her forehead, the human female walked over to the old fridge in the corner of the garage and leaned forward to open it.  
The door squeaked loudly in protest -so did her back-, telling Charley that the hinges -and her spine- could use some oil.  
Mentally adding this to her already endless to-do list, her gaze wandered over the contents and finally spotted a bottle of water hidden behind the large supply of root beer.  
It took her a little effort to reach it without knocking over the cans and when she finally felt the cold bottle under her fingers, she was already annoyed because this was taking at least a minute of her -already- precious time.  
A minute she needed for far more important matters.  
"Those mice…", she muttered under her breath as she opened the bottle and used her foot to close the fridge at the same time, but her mind was already elsewhere.  
Spring had arrived in Chicago, which meant busy days for the Last Chance Garage.  
As the sun finally regained strength after the long and dark days, every bike owner in town suddenly felt the strong desire to go out for a long drive.  
She couldn't blame them, after all, there was nothing better than a road trip in the early days of spring.  
Well, perhaps there was one thing even better and that was a road trip in the early days of spring on a well-maintained bike.  
Yes, she was grateful that they trusted her enough to bring their bike to the Last Chance for a tune-up.  
She just wished they didn't bring them all at the same time.  
And while she was at it, she wished they would leave out the urgent message:_ 'I need it back as soon as possible.'_

Heaving a sigh, the auburn-headed female focussed her attention on the next bike standing on her list.  
For her, spring meant nothing but to let her mind go blank and just work, work, work.  
But keeping a blank mind was hard since it was already half past four in the afternoon.  
The Harley she just finished had taken more of her time than she'd calculated and now, she was behind schedule.  
Charley was no woman to be stressed out easily, but she was now.  
Stressed out.  
Because there was so much to do in such little time and this went on for weeks already.  
She hadn't had a proper night of sleep in days and hardly gave herself enough time to eat.  
She yearned for a day off, so she could hide under her blankets and sleep for at least 24 hours.  
But the garage was her bread and butter and since the bills had to be paid, a day off was out of the question right now.  
She needed the money more than she liked to admit.  
"Just keep going, Charlene, that's all you can do", she said firmly to herself as encouragement.  
And so she did.

Perhaps she would've made it to get back on schedule if three certain furry friends hadn't such ridiculous sense of timing.  
Certain _obnoxiously_ _loud _furry friends.  
She could hear them coming from miles away, the loud music being the biggest clue, but her well-trained ears also recognized the sounds of their engines after working on them for many times already.  
"Oh God, please, not now…", she moaned, but God wasn't in her favor today -he never was- and one of the motorized shutters slowly opened before three bikes drove inside, bringing nothing but chaos along with them.  
"Like I said, it wasn't me, man!", Vinnie's high pitched voice joined the racket of loud metal music and heavy roaring engines.  
"Oh, come on, you can drop the act, bro. Who else could it be, _leprechauns_?", Modo's heavy voice came over the noise, sounding more sarcastic than Charley had ever heard before.  
"Yeah, we all know that you use like ten cans of Turtle Wax a day, man", Throttle's husky voice joined the mix, clearly annoyed, just like his grey-furred bro.  
It turned out that Charley wasn't the only one having a bad day.

"That's not true, I…", Vinnie started, but Modo cut him off.  
"And _again_, you didn't save any for us."  
"But…"  
"Modo is right, Vincent, you're not the only one who has a bike to maintain. We're not just _hanging _around."  
Charley closed her eyes in an attempt to shut out the noise, but a pounding headache already made its way up to her temples.  
She didn't have time for this, much less the patience.  
Not today.  
Not when being _this_ near to the end of her rope as she was now.  
"Guys…"  
But the mice kept bickering about whatever Vinnie had done this time, completely ignoring her weak attempt to stop them.  
"Guys…", she tried again, a bit louder this time.  
"I can't help it that my bike's paint gets easily scratched, so yeah, maybe I need more than…"  
"Cut the bullshit, man, it's ain't your bikes fault that the paint got scratched, _again._"  
"You driving like a mad man, however…"

Charley looked up from her work and saw how Vinnie got off his bike with a scowl from one oversized ear to the other, clearly deeply insulted by the words of his two bro's.  
"I don't drive like a mad man, I have _perfect_ control over my actions!"  
"Oh really? So you hitting the side of that car was all planned?", Modo retorted.  
"As well as scratching the paint while you're at it?", Throttle contributed.  
Because they were so caught up in their -in Charley's opinion _childish-_ discussion, they forgot to shut down their engines and music, forcing them to raise their voice to make themselves heard.  
"Guys, I'm trying to work here, so please, take this somewhere else…"  
But still, the mice didn't hear her.  
Not wanting to waste her energy on nonessentials, Charley tried to focus on her work again, but it was a challenge.  
Closing her eyes, she started to count to ten.  
She loved the mice as her own family, but right now, they were getting under her skin.  
_Big time_.  
She was only halfway when a loud crack, followed by the sound of cans clattering on the hard floor made her eyes fly open again and she turned around to see what the hell was going on.  
Her eyes grew big when she finally realized where she was looking at.  
A white-furred mouse, standing close to the fridge and -much to her surprise- holding the _entire_ _door_ in his right hand.  
The area around his feet was littered with soda cans, some were even cracked open and the characteristic smell of rootbeer already filled her nostrils.  
She thought that after three years living with the mice she'd seen it all, but then there was Vinnie van Wham, who really had outdone himself this time.

As she still stared at the bizarre display in front of her, someone in the form of Throttle quickly turned off the engines and finally, silence dawned on them.  
Vinnie just stood there with the door still in his hand, smiling a bit sheepishly.  
"I uh… I… hehe... ", he stammered, but then started his attempt to place the door back where it belonged, which was no use.  
Of course it wasn't.  
The hinges weren't made to be handled with brute Martian force and were now completely demolished.  
After struggling for a moment, he gave up and put the door on the floor in front of the fridge, right in the puddle of rootbeer.  
He then turned around, still with that goofy smile on his face, although a faint blush was visible under his white fur.  
"That ah… that should do it, hehe."  
Charley finally came back to senses.  
Anger replaced shock, in fact, she hadn't been this angry in her entire life.  
Did he honestly think that putting the door in front of the fridge like that meant it was fixed?  
If so, he was even dumber than he looked like.  
And he looked dumb right now, alright.  
"Out."  
Vinnie's ears drooped when he heard her ice-cold tone of voice.  
"Sweetheart, I…"  
"Out. All of you. _Now_."  
The white-furred mouse gave his two bro's an unsettled look, his bravado nowhere to be found, but Charley gave them no time to react.  
"And here I was, thinking the big ears indicated a good hearing… Get the hell outta my face... _NOW!_", she screamed the last word, clenching her fists to stop herself from kicking them out with brute force.

Knowing now she was being dead serious and that they needed to get the hell out of here before they would be skinned alive, the three mice quickly mounted their bike.  
Throttle and Modo were the first to drive out, but Vinnie hesitated.  
He gave her an almost pleading look, a look she might have called cute if she wasn't this angry.  
But dammit...  
It _was_ cute and she felt a pang of guilt while looking into his puppy eyes, but she then remembered the thousand things she needed to do and the anger returned.  
"Vinnie, I swear to God, if you don't get your stupid tail out of here…", she threatened between clenched teeth, her cheeks burning.  
For a moment, it looked like he was gonna say something back, but he then decided it probably would be safer not to and quickly bolted.  
Charley hit the button next to the door to close it behind him and turned around to look at the mess, still shaking from anger.  
Great. Just great.  
Another job on her to-do list.  
A job she didn't have time for, but she couldn't just leave it like this.  
The rootbeer would dry up and turn into one sticky mess, making it even harder to clean.  
Softly cursing under her breath, Charley grabbed the trashcan and started to clean up.  
If the mice were smart, they wouldn't show their face for at least the next twenty-four hours, because God forbid… she would strangle them with their own tail.

_**...**_

It was almost past midnight when Charley finally started the last job on her to-do list for today, still cranky because of this afternoon events.  
How on Earth Vinnie had managed to yank the entire fridge door out of its hinges was still a mystery to her as much as it was no surprise at all.  
Perhaps if she wasn't this stressed out because of all the work that needed to be done, she might have found the whole thing funny.  
The look on his face, when he stood there with that stupid door in his hand…  
No, it wasn't funny.  
Okay, maybe a little.  
No, it wasn't.  
Because she now needed a new fridge and these things didn't come cheap.

_At least she could scratch oiling the hinges from her to-do list..._

It was then when she heard -_again_\- the engines of the mice coming closer and her anger already fired like a missile again.  
Was there such a thing as a suicidal Martian Mouse?  
Hadn't she made herself clear?  
Was kicking them out not enough?  
She just wanted to be left alone to do her job in peace and quietness, was that really so much to ask?  
Apparently, it was.  
Throwing the wrench on the floor, she jumped at her feet and marched to the door, all ready to stop them before they could enter the garage.  
More to the point; before they -or actually a certain white-furred mouse- could break something else that wasn't meant to be broken.  
Or maybe before she would tear out their whiskers...  
Either way, for _all _of their sakes… she wanted to stop them _before_ entering the garage.  
Given her current mood, that was in the best interest for all parties.

When she pushed the button to open the door, she suddenly noticed they weren't playing any music.  
Looking back, that had been the first clue that something was wrong.  
But at this point, she was still too riled up to give it a name.  
Before the door was entirely open, Throttle already drove inside with high speed, hitting the brakes at the same time and his bike skidded to a halt right in front of her.  
Charley opened her mouth to start the biggest scolding in human history, but when she saw the look on the tan-furred mouse's face, she suddenly forgot the words.  
Throttle jumped off his bike and her eyes followed him every movement, noticing he moved differently than he usually did.  
Hasty.  
Out of control.  
Given the fact that the tan-furred mouse was _always _in control, this was the second clue that something wasn't right.  
It was then when she saw a dark-red stain on his biker jeans, a stain that looked a lot like…  
"Charley…", he breathed as he grabbed her by the shoulders.  
She looked up at him a bit dazed, the high beep in her ears made it difficult for her to hear him.  
"Where are Vinnie and Modo?"  
"Charley, listen, it's…", but Charley cut him off, suddenly overwhelmed with sheer panic.  
"Where are they, Throttle?!"  
"That's what I'm trying to tell you, it's Vinnie, he's hurt, I went ahead to warn you, to prepare you…", Throttle babbled.  
That was the third clue.  
He _neve_r babbled.  
His usual husky and calm voice sounded so different and for the first time that she knew him, she heard fear in it.  
Something was wrong.  
_Very wrong.  
_Beyond wrong.

_Vinnie is hurt..._

But before he -or she for that matter- could say more, Vinnie's bike drove inside.  
Charley peeked over Throttle's shoulder and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that the seat was empty.  
Even worse, the bike was so heavily damaged that she was surprised it was still able to ride, but then again, Martian bikes were entirely different than Earthly ones and it wasn't the first time that they managed to surprise her.  
Even after all these years...  
Shortly thereafter, Modo followed, but Throttle blocked her view before she could catch a glimpse of the grey-furred mouse.  
"Charley, listen to me…"  
She tried to look past him, but he made himself big.  
"Charley… "  
She did hear him, but she was somehow unable to react.  
There was only one thing on her mind and that was that she wanted him to move aside so she could see him.  
She needed to see him.  
To see with her own eyes that he was okay.  
To see that they were just messing with her, although deep down she knew all to well that they would never make a joke about their safety.  
They joked about a lot of things, but never about their safety.  
At least, not to her.  
Furry fingers grabbed her chin and forced her to look up.  
"Charley, I need you to listen to me. It's bad, okay? Real bad."  
His voice cracked with emotion and that made her snap back to reality.  
Her eyes landed on his face, and despite his glasses, she could see the panicked look on his face.  
She could almost smell it coming out of his pores and they didn't even have pores.  
"I need you to stay calm and help him. Please, help him…"

Her blood ran cold by hearing his pleading voice, but there was no time to think.  
Well, she gave herself no time to think because if she did, she would collapse, right here, right now.  
That's what seeing a panicked Throttle did to her.  
It made her legs weak.  
With all the strength she had in her, she tried to push her panic away, but it remained present in the background, slumbering and waiting for the right moment to take over again.  
Knowing this was the best she could do right now, she nodded to Throttle to let him know that she was ready.  
She wasn't though.  
She had a very bad feeling about this one.  
"Okay. Okay. I won't panic. Now, please… let me see him."  
The tan-furred mouse gave her a small nod back and stepped aside, although a bit hesitant.  
Her green eyes landed on the scene behind him and before she could stop herself, she breathed in sharply and covered her mouth with her right hand to keep the scream -the one that bubbled up out of nowhere- inside.  
She'd promised not to panic.  
But how could she stay calm while it was clear that the world was about to stop spinning?

Modo was sitting on his knees and looked up at her with agony written on his face.  
The one eye that wasn't covered with an eyepatch flickered red and she could see his body quivering.  
He suddenly looked so small, which was weird, because the guy was like a castle so big.  
"Charley ma'am…", he started, but his heavy voice broke and he looked down again, clearly unable to speak further.  
Charley followed his gaze and an invisible strap tied around her torso.  
There was so much blood.  
She had never seen this much blood in her entire life.  
The source was a big hole in his muscular white-furred chest at the level of his heart, but a bit more to the right, exposing muscle, flesh and other tissue from which she knew it was bad that she was able to see it with her naked eye.  
Blood poured out of the wound with every heartbeat.  
He still had a heartbeat.

_Help him._

Throttle's husky voice echoed in her head, her brain repeating his plea over and over again and she forced herself to get moving.  
Panic still gnawed on her insides as she dropped down on her knees next to Vinnie, who lay on his back on the cold floor of the Last Chance Garage, breathing heavily.  
He wasn't wearing his helmet and his eyes were wide open, but it looked like he wasn't aware of his surroundings.  
Bruises were already visible under his white fur and his bandoliers, which he always carried with pride, were nowhere to be found.  
As she took in the damage, she saw multiple wounds scattered across his body, his usual snow-white fur covered with bright blood, but all that was nothing… _nothing_ compared to the hole in his chest.  
"Jesus, Vinnie... what the hell happened?", Charley managed to squeeze out as her hands flew over the white-furred mouse his body, having no idea what to do to save him.  
All that blood…  
Was this a nightmare?  
"Limburger", Modo answered with a shaky voice.  
"He ambushed us", Throttle added shortly as he kneeled next to her with the first-aid kit and some towels.  
"Greasepit shot him…"  
Charley snatched a towel out of his hands and pressed it on the big wound but within seconds, the towel was already soaked with blood.  
It was then when the panic decided to make a full comeback.

_Help him._

Right now, there was nothing in this world she wanted more, but she simply didn't know how.  
This was beyond her capabilities.  
Beyond _anyone's _capabilities.  
A little voice in her head agreed with her, telling her that he was beyond saving.  
That she wasn't gonna be able to save him, but she needed to try.  
She had to at least try.  
She couldn't just let him die.  
Not today.  
Not ever.  
So she grabbed another towel but when switching it with the other, she caught another glimpse of the immense wound and panic clouded her brain when reality dawned upon her.  
There was _no way_ that she could save him.  
After everything he'd done for her, after saving her stubborn ass countless times, she couldn't save his.  
She was going to fail him.  
Nobody knew what it did to her, to just sit here and watch helplessly how her world was about to fall apart, completely powerless.  
No words could describe that feeling.  
All she knew is that she'd never felt this alone.

Suddenly, Vinnie coughed and blood splattered on her right arm.  
She could see the fabric of her blouse suck up the red substance, a stupid and unnecessary detail which her brain decided to register before her gaze landed on his face.  
His beautiful face.  
Had she ever told him how beautiful his face was?  
She couldn't remember.  
Her eyes locked with his mesmerizing ruby-red eyes.  
Had she ever told him how mesmerizing his eyes were?  
She couldn't remember.  
God.  
Why hadn't she told him?

Without any warning, his hand grabbed hers in a tight grip and pulled her closer.  
She leaned forward with her other hand still resting on his chest, everything around her forgotten.  
A bubble.  
It felt as if they were both caught in a bubble, completely cut off from the outside world.  
That cruel world.  
A deafening silence pressed against her eardrums, her vision was blurry but strangely enough, she could see him crystal clear.  
She could almost count the small hairs of his beautiful lashes.  
She could now see the microscopically small black flecks in his scarlet irises, a detail she hadn't seen before.  
It made them even more beautiful.  
He opened his mouth and when she saw the blood on his tongue her panic grew -as far as that goes- even bigger.  
"S...s-sorry... ab-bout y-your… f-f-fridge… s-s-sweethe… heart…", he managed to squeeze out between wheezing and her heart stung when she heard him say these words.

_My god.  
_  
Why in the world had she been so mad at him about something as insignificant as breaking a fridge?  
She would buy a hundred fridges for him to break if that meant she was able to have him around a little longer.  
If that meant that he was going to be okay.  
There were so much more important things than that _goddamn_ fridge.  
Him staying with her, for example.  
Or her not failing him.  
"No, Vinnie, please, don't worry about that, just fight, okay? I need you to stay with me..."  
Her voice broke and tears now streamed down her face.  
She was going to lose him.  
She just knew she was.  
God, please, no…  
She couldn't lose him.  
She wasn't ready.  
She would never be ready.

_I'm too weak to face this..._

Holding his hand tightly, she looked into his eyes.  
His lively ruby-red eyes, that always told so many stories.  
One look into those eyes and she always immediately knew what was going on in his mind.  
And now, they were filled with fear.  
For the first time ever, she saw fear in his eyes.  
The strap around her torso tightened.  
No…  
She needed to help him.  
Why couldn't she help him?  
"God, Vinnie, I don't know what to do… What do you want me to do? Please, talk to me… Tell me what to do…", she cried helplessly, clinging to his hand.  
Seeing the pain and anguish in his eyes made her more than just terrified.  
Her breathing now came out in rapid and uncontrolled breaths, so did his.  
She let go of his hand and cupped his head in her hands, his big ears between her fingers.  
"Come on, Vinnie, I need you to fight… you're the baddest mamma jammer from this side of the universe, remember? Fight. I can't lose you…"  
Begging.  
All that she could do was begging him not to leave.  
"You hear me? I can't lose you…"  
He looked up at her with despair in his eyes, gasping for air, his beautiful face now transformed into a gruesome mask of pain and terror.  
And he tried.  
He tried so hard to fight back, she could tell.

_But it just wasn't enough.  
_  
His mouth opened, but then he clenched his teeth in pain, not able to say another word and his breathing became more and more shallow.  
That couldn't be good.  
He was giving up.  
He couldn't give up.  
She needed him.  
More than anything.  
Did he not know?  
She was _nothing_ without him.

_Stay awake…  
__Don't rest your head…  
__Stay awake…  
__Don't close your eyes…_

"No, no, no… No, Vinnie… don't leave me… please, I need you…", she pleaded, but it was too late.  
To her almost fatal shock, it was too late.  
Without warning, his body convulsed against hers as a result of hypoxia and blood loss, every muscle stretched tightly and her own hands began to tremble.  
"No, Vinnie, please…"  
She saw his tail spasm in the corner of her eye before it dropped on the floor to never rise again.  
"Oh God, no… "  
She looked back into his eyes, only to see how the light slowly faded.  
His mesmerizing ruby-red eyes, that always told so many stories, deflated till there was nothing left.  
Gone was the light.  
Gone were the stories.  
_Gone…  
He_ was gone.  
Vinnie was gone.  
"Vinnie… wake up. Please, wake up…", Charley sobbed heartbroken as her thumbs stroked his cheeks, still holding his head in her hands.  
But he didn't.  
Wake up.

_He tried so hard and got so far…  
__But in the end, it doesn't even matter…  
__Not even Vinnie could defeat death after being chosen..._

His body relaxed, his hands fell on the cold floor with a thump.  
His head now felt twice as heavy in her hands, but she hardly noticed.  
A tear left his right eye and slowly rolled down.  
No.  
No, no, no…  
The small drop landed on her hand and shattered when it made contact with her skin.  
So did her heart.  
It shattered into a million pieces to never heal again.  
Lost.  
She was lost.  
Incomplete.  
She kept desperately searching for a sign in his now empty eyes, a sign that he was still in there.  
He _had_ to be in there.  
Her world would end if he was no longer in there.  
But nothing happened.  
The always so restless mouse, who never had the patience to sit still for longer than ten seconds, now lay there… still.  
Motionless.  
_Dead…  
_He was gone.  
Really gone.

_I've heard it said a thousand times…  
__But now I know...  
__That you don't know what you've got…  
__Until it's gone..._

An unbearable pain crawled through her whole body, forcing her heart to almost explode out of her chest.  
Breathe.  
She couldn't breathe.  
Her mouth opened and she tried to scream in a weak attempt to vent some of the crippling agony, but it was nothing more but a whisper.  
A whisper in the wind.  
"No…"  
She didn't recognize the sound that came out of her mouth, it sounded like something only a stranger could produce.  
Not her.  
Certainly not her.  
The pain overwhelmed her.  
Her hands were shaking so badly that she was forced to let go of his head.  
His fur, his soft fur, slid through her fingers and the feeling made her sick to the stomach.  
It was cruel.  
Cruel, how time had familiarized her with feeling his soft fur under her fingers, how it had forced her to take it for granted and now… now it was taken away from her before she had the chance to relearn the value of it.  
_He _was taken away.  
How was that even fair?

A hand on her shoulder broke her out her trance, but she couldn't look up.  
If she did, that meant she needed to let Vinnie out of her sight.  
That would be the beginning of saying a final goodbye.  
The beginning of the end.  
She wasn't ready.  
She would never be ready.  
God, there was no way that she was able to leave his side.  
To just leave him.

_All alone_.

Nausea pressed against her windpipe by the thought alone, making it even more difficult to breathe.  
If she would leave him, that meant she was never going to see him again.  
That was inconceivable.  
Unforgivable.  
"No."  
She yanked herself free and threw herself on Vinnie's chest, holding him tightly to never let go.  
In an attempt to escape from these terrifying empty eyes, she buried her face into his fur.  
Even his lovely scent was already fading.  
Chased away by the horrendous smell of death.  
Had she ever told him how lovely his scent was?  
She couldn't remember.  
God...  
How was this even possible?  
How could all of this happen in such a short time?  
Why couldn't she turn back time and why, for fuck sake _why_... didn't she just wake up from this gruesome nightmare?

_You want to point your finger…  
__But there's no one else to blame..._

Guilt was already pressing its heavy weight on her conscience.  
She had _yelled_ at him.  
She had _chased_ him _away_ without saying a proper goodbye.  
How stupid.  
How could she do that, when she knew Limburger was always on the prowl?  
Why had she been that selfish?  
That _goddamn_ fridge.  
If only she'd known what she knew now.  
That look on his face before he left…  
The image was burned inside her brain and she already knew it was gonna haunt her till her death.  
So were his last words.  
He died feeling guilty about demolishing her fridge.  
How disgraceful.  
The blame was hers.

_Hers alone._

God, she was never going to forgive herself.  
She was never going to forgive herself for treating him the way she did because thereby, she single-handedly blackened her last memory of him.  
She was never going to forgive herself for not telling him how important he was to her.  
Why hadn't she told him?  
It was too late now.  
He was gone.

_The sound of your voice painted on my memories...  
__Even if you're not with me, I'm with you...  
__I'll be always with you... _

She was never going to hear that unique, high pitched voice of his, ever again.  
She was never going to see that big, self-righteous smile of his, ever again.  
She was never going to be able to sigh tiredly and roll her eyes because of him bragging about whatever stunt he'd done this time, ever again.  
She was never going to see him wiggling his eyebrows in response when she did, with that teasing glance in his eyes, ever again.  
She was never going to feel that safe feeling he always gave her, ever again.  
She was never going to be able to look into his eyes and see him looking back.  
Never, _ever_ again.  
And the worst thing of all was that she was never... _never _going to get the chance to tell him how much he meant to her.

_Help him._

Charley squeezed her eyes in pain, her fingers grabbed his fur in a tight grip as she cried.  
Cried as she'd never cried before, almost choking in her heartache.  
She'd failed him in so many ways.  
God, the pain was horrible.  
"No, Vinnie... "  
She wanted him to come back.  
"Please…"  
She would do anything to get him back.  
"Don't leave me here, all alone…"  
If only she had one more day…  
"Please, wake up... "  
...so she could tell him...  
"_I love you…"  
_

* * *

_Who cares if one more light goes out in a sky of a million stars?  
__It flickers, flickers…  
__Who cares if someone's time runs out if a moment is all we are?  
__We're quicker, quicker...  
__Who cares if one more light goes out?  
__Well I do…_

_**Well I do.**_


End file.
